BBC Online: Graf Report

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Tessa Jowell) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I have today placed the independent review of BBC Online by Philip Graf in the Libraries of both Houses, together with a copy of the letter I have written to the chairman of the governors. The report is also available electronically on the department's website www.culture.gov.uk.
	In response to the review, I have asked the BBC to consider all of Philip Graf's recommendations, and to respond fully by the end of October 2004. I have asked that the governors' response include a redrafted version of BBC Online's remit and a statement of how the corporation intends to involve the independent sector along the lines set out by the report. I have not, at this stage, imposed any further conditions on BBC Online.

Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: I have made a statement under Section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1988 that, in my view, the provisions of the Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) Bill are compatible with the convention rights. A copy of the statement has been placed in the Library of the House.

Shatt Al Arab Incident

Lord Bach: My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Geoffrey Hoon) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	On 21 June a Royal Navy training team consisting of eight personnel and three small boats was detained by the Iranian authorities on the Shatt al Arab waterway near the southern extremity of the Al Faw peninsula. The team was conducting a routine boat movement from Umm Qasr to Basra. The initial assessment, reflected in statements by a British Army spokesman in Basra and the British Ambassador in Tehran, was that these Service personnel could have strayed into Iranian waters by mistake.
	Our first priority was for the safe return of the personnel. Discussions with the Iranian authorities secured the release of the eight on 25 June. They were immediately returned to the Multi-National Division South-East, where they underwent a medical assessment and debriefing to establish their perspective of the incident. Since then, two of the team have returned home because their tour of duty has come to an end; another returned home today for medical reasons associated with the incident. The remainder of the team continues to work in Iraq.
	We are continuing with negotiations for the return of the boats and equipment. The deadline set for their return passed yesterday. The equipment consists of personal weapons, ammunition, radios and navigation equipment including echo sounders (to measure the depth of the water), global positioning systems (to identify exact position) and up-to-date maritime charts.
	I would like to reassure the House that British personnel are trained to observe the normal rules of maritime navigation and are issued with modern charts and equipment. This should be sufficient to prevent inadvertent digressions across the border and we are not aware of any previous allegations that the border has been violated.
	In recent more detailed debriefing the crews have said that they were operating inside the Iraqi border and were forcibly escorted into Iranian territorial waters. Our assessment continues, and will be greatly assisted by the retrieval of navigational information in the global positioning system equipment carried by the crews. We are very concerned about the blindfolding of the men and have made representations about this to the Government of Iran. We have also made it clear that we do not expect a recurrence of this type of incident.

Defence Aviation Repair Agency: Key Targets 2004–05

Lord Bach: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Defence (Mr Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The chief executive of DARA has been set the following key targets for financial year 2004–05.
	
		
			 Key Target Details Target 
			 KT 1—Quality The measurement of attributable major customer concerns received from DARA's customers Achieve fewer than 15 attributable major customer concerns annually, on average financial years 2004–05 to 2006–07. 
			 KT2 – Business Performance and Efficiency The measurement of DARA's return on capital employed(RoCE) Achieve an annual return on capital employed of at least 3.5 per cent. 
			 KT3—Business Sustainability The measurement of DARA's order book cover: Achieve a closing order book of at least £200 million at the end of financial year 2004–05, which includes at least £100 million to be deliverable. 
			 KT4—Wider Markets The measurement of DARA's progress towards wider markets penetration. Present a business case to the Ministerial Advisory Board (MAB) for DARA's potential in the civil aerospace market, by end July 2004. Then, by the end of financial year 2004–05, to present a long-term business plan for significant growth in the proportion of revenue from non-MOD customers. 
			 KT5—Cost Reduction. The measurement of DARA's reduction in costs. To reduce total DARA costs by at least 5 per cent in real terms by the end of 2004–05.

Defence Communications Services Agency: Key Targets 2004–05

Lord Bach: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Defence (Mr Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Key targets have been set for the chief executive of the DCSA for financial year 2004–05 as follows:
	
		
			 Title Details Target 
			 KT 1—Service Assurance The measurement of the quantity and quality of the agency's services delivered. To meet an average of 98 per cent for measured services against the performance targets agreed in agency CSAs. 
			 KT 2—Service Fulfilment The measurement of the delivery of all newly commissioned/changes to agency services. To commission an average of 96 per cent of new service requests on or before the dates agreed by customers with the DCSA. 
			 KT 3—Service Availability The measurement of the availability of all operational services. To achieve an average service availability of 98 per cent for all operational services. 
			 KT 4—Service Support The measurement of the quality of the agency/customer interface. To achieve an average 95 per cent success rate against agreed standards in response to demands on DCSA operator assistance centres (OACs) and helpdesk facilities. 
			 KT 5—Customer Satisfaction The measurement of customer satisfaction with customer interface, delivery and support. To achieve a customer confidence index of   54. 
			 KT 6—Efficiency Measurement The measurement of the reduction in the average unit cost of output. To achieve an improvement in efficiency by reducing the average unit cost of output by 4 per cent. 
			 KT7—Project Management The measurement of the agency's effectiveness in managing major complex projects. To deliver new projects to time, cost and performance as expressed at the 90   per cent confidence level to a tolerance of 9 per cent.

Disposal Services Agency: Key Targets 2004–05

Lord Bach: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Defence (Mr Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The agency was originally launched as the Disposal Sales Agency in October 1994 and was relaunched in November 2000 as the Disposal Services Agency. DSA provides a total disposal solution by acting as a broker and adding value through expert advice across the public sector. The agency operates very much in line with the Government's aim of more joined-up delivery. The chief executive of the agency has been set the following key targets for the financial year 2004–05:
	1. To achieve a disposal sales gross cash receipt of £20 million from sales of surplus government-owned equipment and stores. This figure reflects the planned surplus equipment disposal programme.
	2. To meet the key performance indicators agreed in the customer supplier agreement (CSA) with the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO).
	3. To ensure that the agency is at the standard or above the standard of the public sector benchmarking report for overall customer satisfaction.
	4. To secure £365,000 sales per person employed for commercial sales activities.
	5. To ensure that the e-Trade Exchange is operational in 2004–05 and that 30 per cent of eligible agency contractors use it.

Naval Recruiting and Training Agency: Key Targets 2004–05

Lord Bach: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Defence (Mr Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Subsequent to a proposal by the agency's owner, the Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, I have today set the 2004–05 key targets for the Naval Recruiting and Training Agency, as follows:
	1. To deliver RN personnel to the trained strength (or to other training organisations), to the required quality standard, within 5 per cent variance from the tasked requirement.
	2. To deliver RM recruits to within 2 per cent variance from the tasked requirement.
	3. To maintain success rates of 95 per cent in career training (including targeted employment modules) and 97 per cent in examined pre-joining training.
	4. To maintain the trained strength of the Royal Naval Reserve at 2,120, pending review of the trained strength requirement.
	5. To reduce the cost of the NRTA HQ overhead compared with the 2003–04 baseline figure.
	6. To achieve net benefits of £15.3 million in financial year 2004–05 from the partnering arrangement with Flagship Training Limited.
	7. To maintain performance in phase 2 and phase 3 training delivered to Army and Royal Air Force personnel, following establishment of the Defence College of Electro-Mechanical Engineering.